With travel prices down, more Americans are hitting the road this summer

We're about half way through summer, and it's been an active travel season so far with TSA screening an average daily of 2.43 million passengers, up from around 220,000 one year ago.

Airbnb reported Wednesday that bookings for nights and excursions are also up.

"This has been a robust travel year," said Skyler McKinley with AAA. "In fact, I would say that 2024 is finally the year that the travel economy has recovered and rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic."

According to the U.S. Travel Association's Travel Price Index , prices in June decreased 1.4% from the previous month, led by lower costs on things like gas, airfare, and hotels. AAA reports that the average price of gas is down 37 cents a gallon compared to a year ago.

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"Prices were really high 2021 through 2023 because the travel economy was rebuilding itself," McKinley said. "Finally, in 2024 airlines are staffed back up, hotels are staffed up and fully open, gas prices have fallen as the oil markets have stabilized a little bit. So, across sectors you're saving money. On average, we've seen airfare fall about two percent year over year. We've seen anywhere between two and ten percent declines in what you'll pay for a hotel."

TSA is seeing a consistent daily growth in screening compared to last year — with Independence Day travel reaching over 3 million passengers screened on July 7.

According to Hopper, domestic flights for June, July and August are averaging $305 per ticket — down 6% from last year.

"They're staying an extra day, or they're taking longer trips or they're going out to nicer hotels or nicer restaurants," McKinley said. "Americans budget to travel and when prices fall, they spend what they plan to spend, and they get a little bit of extra for their buck."

Hotel prices have dropped slightly. In its quarterly report released this week, Airbnb said it booked 125.1 million nights and experiences in the second quarter of 2024 — a 9% increase from a year earlier.

Officials said that in July they noticed many customers were also opting to reserve an Airbnb property within a couple of weeks of when they need to stay, rather than doing so months in advance. But McKinley said if you're looking to save money, it's still best to book early.

"So, to the extent that folks have been looking to save, booking early — whether it's your airfare, your hotel room, or your rental car — guarantees you the best rate," McKinley said. "You can't wait until the last moment and expect a deal."

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